Couples Gain An Average Of 4 Pounds Per Year While In A Relationship

Trending News: Being In Love Is Bad For Your Waistline

Why Is This Important?

Long Story Short

A new study has found that couples gain on average 14 pounds in their first seven years together and a total of four pounds per year in total as they reach the comfort zone.

Long Story

It’s human nature that as we start to feel more comfortable in a relationship we start to relax and let ourselves go, but a study has revealed the extent to which we pile on the pounds when we find a long-term partner.

Research by British diet company Forzadiet, has found that people in a relationship gain on average four pounds per year that they are together, as those hard gym sessions and low-calorie diets of single life are replaced by nights in front of the TV with wine and pizza.

When 1,000 couples were quizzed it emerged that 62% of couples had both put on weight with 54% of women saying that their partner had put on weight as a result of their weight gain. Only 28% of men felt their increased waist size had influenced their partner.

The managing director of Forzadiet, Lee Smith, was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying: “Falling in love is the most wonderful thing in the world. But many couples settle into a comfort zone and that can lead to them letting themselves go - with predictable results for both.”

Interestingly, in a recent study quoted by Jutta Matta of the University of Basel to the Huffington Post, it was found that in countries with high divorce rates, married people have lower Body Mass Indexes than in countries with less frequent divorces. This seems to back up the theory that people in couples feel they don’t need to make as much effort once they are off the market.

However, it may not all be downhill for couples as there’s also evidence that they can inspire each other to lose weight as well as gaining it.

The survey found that 56% of couples had tried to lose weight together. 61% believed it was easier to shed the pounds as a couple than alone.

Plus, it has been found in other studies that happily married people have overall better health, stronger bones and (perhaps surprisingly) are less likely to have heart attacks. So maybe those love handles aren’t the worst thing after all…

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question: Are you in the comfort zone?

Disrupt Your Feed: Nothing says happily married like an ever-growing paunch! You know you’re in a happy relationship when you can trade the protein shake for a milkshake.

Drop This Fact: Nine studies in Europe have found that married adults have a higher body mass index and do less exercise than single people but they tend to have a greater desire to eat organic and unprocessed food